It is not only journal editors who need to take leadership in changing the culture of acceptance of drug advertising 1,2 : medical schools also need to recognise their responsibility.

Medical schools are to be commended for integrating many of the principles of evidence based medicine into their curriculums. However, when it comes to teaching about the ethics of marketing there is much to be done: to our knowledge, no British medical school has a policy on pharmaceutical interaction.

Our American counterparts are setting the standard: Yale, Stanford, and many other American medical schools have policies restricting pharmaceutical interaction during medical school.3 Their policies reflect the value of marketing representatives as a source of evidence.

The BMA’s recent annual representatives’ meeting signalled the beginnings of a cultural shift in the United Kingdom. The meeting voted almost unanimously in favour of supporting medical schools in not only forming policies but dedicating time . . .

You are going to have many difficulties. The smokers will not like your message. The tobacco interests will be vigorously opposed. The media and the government will be loath to support these findings. But you have one factor in your favour. What you have going for you is that you are right.
- Evarts Graham See:When truth is unwelcome: the first reports on smoking and lung cancer.

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